WHY HIM: In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and in the movie with Gregory Peck, Atticus transforms quiet decency, legal acumen, and great parenting into the most heroic qualities a man can have.COPYCAT DESCENDANT:A Time to Kill‘s Jake Tyler Brigance.

18. BATMAN

WHY HIM: The brooding Batman is the paradigm for gadgety, nonpowered superheroes. And Christian Bale’s Dark Knight acts as the ultimate war-on-terror hero — and cautionary tale.BEST ACCESSORY: Batarangs. Because they’re called Batarangs.

TYPICAL DAY ON THE JOB: Beating up scum on the streets of San Francisco; denying Miranda rightsWEAPON OF CHOICE: .44 Magnum, ”the most powerful handgun in the world”CATCHPHRASE: ”Go ahead, make my day.”PERSONAL BAGGAGE: Wife killed; estranged from mankind

14. WILL KANE

WHY HIM: In High Noon, Gary Cooper’s retiring lawman faces down a killer and his goons despite being deserted by the rest of the town.MOST HEROIC MOVE: When Kane’s last ally gets cold feet, he tells him to go home to his family, and then refuses the help of a teenager.

13. FOXY BROWN

WHY HER: In the ’70s, it was nothing short of revolutionary for a supersexy female vigilante (Pam Grier) to demand payback from every scumbag who crosses her path.MOST HEROIC QUOTE: ”You just take care of the justice, and I’ll handle the revenge myself.”COPYCAT DESCENDANT: Rapper Foxy Brown.

WHY HIM: In a postapocalyptic world where everyone is in a death struggle for fuel (hmm, sound familiar?), you need a badass who cracks heads…you know, for good.BEST ACCESSORY: A souped-up muscle car.BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Poor fuel efficiency.COPYCAT DESCENDANTS: Kevin Costner in Waterworld, Kevin Costner in The Postman.

10. SPIDER-MAN

WHY HIM: Sure, Peter Parker (played on film by Tobey Maguire) has powers beyond those of mortal men…but he’s just a kid, trying to land a job, care for his aunt, and make nice with his dream girl. And he still finds time for feats of bravery.MOST HEROIC MOVE: Risking life and limb to stop a runaway el train in Spider-Man 2.LEAST HEROIC MOVE: That alien-goop-prompted emo strut he whips out in Spider-Man 3.

9. ROBIN HOOD

WHY HIM: As the champion of Sherwood Forest, Errol Flynn best embodies the swashbuckling rogue in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood.MOST HEROIC QUOTE: ”Men, if you’re willing to fight for our people, I want you!”BEST ACCESSORY: His posse of merry men.WORST ACCESSORY: His green tights.BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Fair maidens.

8. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

WHY HER: No one kicks undead ass with more stylin’ sass than the SoCal blonde, immortalized by Sarah Michelle Gellar in Joss Whedon’s TV series. To quote her tombstone, ”She saved the world — a lot.”MOST HEROIC MOVE: To protect her sister — and humanity — she jumps to her (temporary) death in a snarling portal of evil.

WHY HIM: Through four Die Hard movies, Bruce Willis’ wisecracking, terrorist-foiling New York cop established himself as the anti-Bond, making the world safe for flawed blue-collar superheroes in torn T-shirts and jeans.MOST HEROIC QUOTE: ”Yippee-ki-yay, motherf—er.”COPYCAT DESCENDANTS: Keanu Reeves in Speed (Die Hard on a bus!), Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57 (Die Hard on a plane!), Jean-Claude Van Damme in Sudden Death (Die Hard at a hockey game!). And so on.

5. ELLEN RIPLEY

WHY HER: As inhabited by Sigourney Weaver, the Alien tetralogy’s Ripley is one of the first female movie characters who isn’t defined by the men around her, or by her relationship to them.MOST HEROIC QUOTE: ”Get away from her, you bitch!”BEST ACCESSORY: The exoskeletonish power loader she uses to pummel the Alien Queen into the air lock in Aliens.

4. HARRY POTTER

WHY HIM: Orphaned, cast out, and in the throes of adolescent hormonal revolt, J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard (played by Daniel Radcliffe on screen) is the embodiment of the corny bumper sticker: Why be normal?MOST HEROIC MOVE: Obliterating Voldemort by deploying his secret weapons: love, loyalty, and the good ol’ Expelliarmus.BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Misses his mommy and daddy.

3. SUPERMAN

WHY HIM: He’s no less than the superhero archetype, but it wasn’t until Christopher Reeve donned his tights that we realized the Man of Steel also had a soul.MOST HEROIC MOVE: When he saves California from falling into the sea. No, it’s when he gives his life to stop Doomsday from destroying Metropolis. No, wait, it’s beingSuperman.LEAST HEROIC MOVE:Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

WHY HIM: Without 007, the action-hero genre as we know it would not exist. When Sean Connery introduced the suave, unflappable Bond to audiences 47 years ago inDr. No — last name first, naturally — he kicked off the longest-running, most copied action franchise in the history of film.MOST HEROIC QUOTE: ”Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She’s just dead.”LEAST HEROIC QUOTE: ”That’s as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.”BEST ACCESSORY: The Aston Martin with the pop-off top.WORST ACCESSORY: Goldfinger’s powder blue terry-cloth jumpsuit.